You may think a “bad” comic is the hardest thing to write a review of, but a “good” one one that pulls a trick that impresses you is much harder to write about.

I read it before you and want to scream from the rooftops “you never see it when ___ appears at ____!”, but that would just be horrid and rob you of the joy of experiencing it yourself. So I had to hold myself back last time when Holy Shnikies Promethea Burst Out The Door At The End!

Big fan of J H Williams III (as anyone who reads my reviews of Batwoman has picked up on), and I dug Promethea from her first to last issue.

This is an exciting issue with large exciting fights, good guys coming together to fight the bads with friendship, and Frost making the hard choice she’s been facing since the arc begun. All of these are great reasons to read it.

But my fangirl hat is on, my favorite single ABC (America’s Best Comics) character is officially DC cannon now, so my mind spins with all the extended questions I get to so happily speculate upon.

I appreciate when they take the time and effort to put one of these out.

It’s a deeper dive for those that liked it the first time and a second chance for those (like me) that completely missed it.

Maybe it’s the extensive use of a stark black and white only punctuated with a splash of blood or the warm color of a television screen, but this feels arthouse theater to a regular comic’s weekly t.v. series. It’s not a story given chronologically or straightforward. There is a looming threat even Scott feels, and through repeated black panels with simple white text we feel it too.

Where can you escape when the future feels bleaker then anything you have yet survived?

The gang has learned what scared the other mutated monsters away from the mall, the monsters inside were even more nuts!

Set somewhere between a season of “American Gladiators” and complete global annihilation is this game the mall mutants play.

Each team in nicely hand-made (or is it claw-made?) uniforms either representing “C J Nickel” or “Mears” and at an appointed time leave their chosen department store to rip apart as much of the other team as possible.

That it’s such a predictable pattern actually gives Velma hope that her plan to change the mall into their base is possible. Let’s just hope this slim thread of a plan doesn’t get complicated.

Secret Squirrel is a Bond-ian flavored parody this time. The artist du-jour (Colleen Doran) has a light fun style with almost an “Adult Swim” feel.

This is good because I could see this being the subject of a Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode.

The bad guy group “The Committee” who hired Loup Astucieux to kill Secret Squirrel want it to happen quickly or they’ll bill him for all the cool gadgets and death traps he failed to kill him with earlier! Oh no, what is a world famous assassin to do?

Well, theoretically they do but there’s so much fighting between customers and the owner is a loud sour grump its almost a relief when a ghost crashes the party. But cleanliness is second to mystery solving and not even the fear of funk will stop them from cleaning up this case.

The second story sees the group getting yet another flat tire on a lonely spooky road. Even they’re starting to see the meta of this joke (their spare is flat from the last time this happened!).

When will they get a roadside auto emergency membership?

The nearest place is an “everything” making business with only one employee brave enough to be there. Three days ago a monster was “created’ in one of their many labs.

If only there were an intrepid group of kids to help solve the mystery.

It’s sadly a tired premise that gets it’s mystery from budding off of an event I didn’t read. But this is a #1, and those are expected to stand on their own.

The art is nice, Rocafort likes detail and if there’s a texture he will be sure you can feel it whether it’s Ernie’s kigurumi or every floor of every skyscraper in New York.

The faces feel pulled from reference, sometimes that’s fine (the sweet kiss on page 7), sometimes it feels out of place or distractingly off-model. But hey you can’t be the best at every aspect right off the bat, I look forward to seeing this artist grow.

As for writing…Teen kid gets powers from event, his best friend knows secret and made him awesome costume. Parents don’t know and are extra worried for him. People are angry at him using the powers willy-nilly and he’s already in trouble for that.

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